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Tuesday, August 18, 2009

Lover's Retreat - Near the Crazy Water Community of Mineral Wells, Texas

New Suspension Bridgeat Lover's Retreatnear Mineral Wells, Texas

The South's Greatest Health Resort

According to the Famous Water Company's website, "In the early days of the resort era, the hotel life [in Mineral Wells] was very basic and centered around the waters, very few leisure or social activities were offered. The typical boarding house was a two-story structure, with rooms costing $7-$10 per week, and normally included three meals a day. Each well had a different activity, and visitors moved from well to well for entertainment. Most wells offered all you can drink water cards to be purchased for $1 a week. Games were very popular in the pavilions and boarding house lobbies, with the domino game '42' being the most popular. Over time social outings became a part of the cure. A daily routine would include morning baths and visits to friends ('calling'), afternoon drives and donkey rides, and evening balls and concerts. The town advertised walks to Inspiration Point, Lover’s Retreat, Devil’s Hollow, Lake Mineral Wells, Witches Hollow and Hanging Rock. Donkey rides were very popular; the donkeys of Mineral Wells were commonly referred to as 'Texas Nightingales', a nickname given to them for their 'lovely signing' voices.Mineral Wells was truly built on its waters, and the mineral waters provided the town with its identity for the first sixty years of its existence."

Lover's Retreat is found on Eagle Creek near the Brazos River west of the north central Texas town of Mineral Wells. As a girl, I often visited the Suspension Bridge which looked so dangerous as it swung over the small creek below and as a young woman I often went there with other couples.This postcard is in my small collection of memorabilia from my hometown.

Hello Judith,this is just a note to let you know that I just published information for the October issue of A Festival of Postcards. In case you're planning to take part here's where you can find it!http://acanadianfamily.com/2009/09/12/a-festival-of-postcards-5th-ed-quadrupeds-call-for-submissions/

Homsley Reunion, Seymour, Texas

Shiloh Baptist Church in 1736 ~ Camden County, North Carolina

Original Wooden Building ~ Click on Picture to go to Camden County's Homepage.

HOMESLEY CONNECTIONS

Several of my Richards family cousins have a copy of Carrie Homesley Cunningham's book, "Historical Record of the Holmesley Family." My dad gave me his copy before he died. In Len and Greg's post, "Homsley Stories", a reader tells them how Mrs. Cunningham came to his family farm when he was a boy in Arkansas and talked to his father about genealogy and then came back, delivering her printed book by car to different families that had ordered several copies!

You'll find other gems in this wonderful article on Glenn Gabbard's ancestry which is Homesley ~ the same as mine, and Len's and Greg's.﻿